A partnership



R. G. CARPENTERlv SIGN MECHANISIVI.

APPLICATION FILED JANI11 1917- RENEWED MAY I4, I9I9.

Patented July, 22, 1919,

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SIGN MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 17.1917; RENEWED MAY 14| i919. 1,310,689.

Patented July 22, 1919.

SIGN MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JAM. I7, 19|]- RENEWED MAY 14| |919. 1,310,689.'

R. G. CARPENTER.

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R-ALPH G. CARPENTER, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 HIMSELF AND OSCAR i CEDEBQUIST, BOTH 0F CHICAG 0, ILLINOIS, A PARTNERSHIP.

sien MECHANISM.

To all lwhom t may concern.' l

Be it known that I, RALPH G. CARPENTER, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in- Sign Mechanism; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptlon of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to illuminated slgns of the traveling legend type, :or signs in which the wording or illustrations are successively displayed, its general objects being to provide an unusually effective operatlng mechanism' and to provide means for displayinglettering and illustrations composed of minute and irregularly spaced` elements.

ore particularly, my invention aims to provide` means for effectively displaying Words lor letters formed by perforations in anopaque film when the perforations do not match those of the sign front either in size or in spacing. In the drawings,

Figure l is a fragmentary horizontal section through a sign embodying my invention, taken from its rear and with the rear cover omitted of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevation of the mechanism of the same sign.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of another sign embodying certain features of my lnventlon, with the rear plate of the sign casing removed and with certain parts in section.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged horizontal section through portions of the sign, showing the projection of the light rays.

Figs. 5 and 6 show fragments of lilms respectively having Wording and illustrations adapted to ybe displayed according to the method of my invention.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view -of one end of the film and of the means for connecting the same to a spool-ribbon.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section through Fig. 7 along the line 8-8.`

Fi 9 is a side elevation of the throwover mem er of the mechanism, viewed from the leftof the motor in Fig. 1.

In carrying out the various purposes of my invention, I preferably employ-a film made of substantially opaque material and having. the legends upon thevsamev formed of perforations or relatively translucent film portions, this `film 1 beingstretched between Specication of Letters Patent. Application led January-17, 1917, Serial No. 142,920. Renewed May Patented July 22, 1919. 14, 1919. Serial No. 297,136.

' disturbing its continued rotation, and when thus moved in one direction or the other it 1s adapted to-'connect either with the gear 4 or the gear 5 through the clutches 10 and 11 respectively. of the shaft 4 to its extreme limit of travel 1n either direction will reverse the motion of the spools' and hence reverse the movement of the film. To insure a rapid and positive action ofthe reversing mechanism, I prefer-` ably use snap-over means based on the use of two-springpressed elements,l one of which is wedge-shaped, while the other is adapted to ride up the incline of the wedge and to snap over the latter when it has passed the apex of the wedge. Thus, in applying this principle to mechanism allied to that shown in my co ending application, ledNov. 2, 1916 as erial No. 129047, I mount a Wedge 12 rigidly on the bracket 13 which partially supports both the main shaft 4 and a slidable thrust-rod 14. The rod 14 carries rollers 15 at its opposite ends,

AWhich rollers bear respectively against the two film rolls,

the r,rod being extensible by means of a coupling '16 in the same, so as to adjust its effective length to' different lengths and thicknesses of the lilm. Fast upon the rod 14 is a bracket 1-7 having a slot housing a pin on a slide 18, which slide is mounted on the shaft 4 and limited in its movement with respect to the latter by stop collars 19. The slide 18 carries a plunger 20. continuously urged in one direction by a spring 21, and this plunger carries a wheel 22 disposed close to the wedge 12 and adapted to ride up and over the incline of the latter when the slide 18 is moved in one direction or the other longitudinally of the shaft 4. With the parts in the position of Fig. 3, a continued winding of the lilm upon the right hand spool will move the thrustrod 14 to the left, drawing the slide 18 with it and therefore causing the spring-pressed wheel 22' t0 climb up the incline of the wedge 12 until the wheel passes the tip of Consequently, a movement I the Wedge. rThen the ressure of the spring 21 will cause the whee -to move up the lefth'and slope of the wedge, thus forclng the plunger 20 and the slide 18 to the left and consequently movin the shaft longitudinally. Owing to t e lost motion between the slide 18 and the stops 19, the coacting of the slope ,of the Wedge with the pressure of the lspring enables the slide 18 to snap over and start its rapid lateral movement unimpeded by the power required for dis- `connecting the interlocked pair of clutches and moving the shaft 4 endwise. Hence the slide 18 will acquirea suiiicient momentum by the time it engages the left-hand stop 19,`

erably control t is reversing, not by the thickness of the film on the spools, but by an element carried on a terminal strip or the like to which one end of the film is secured, and preferably bythe element which also serves to secure the lm to the terminal strip. Thus, in the preferred form of Figs. 1 and 2 each spool hasa relatively short piece of leather or the like secured to it, the tip of this leather 25 being looped through the aperture formed by punching a bridgepiece 22 from a metal strap 2.3, and the adjacent .end of the film 1 being likewise looped throu h the same aperture as shown in Fig. 7. T e core 26 of each spool has a' lateral recess 27 so positioned as to receive the strap 23, so that the latter will not interfere with the smooth winding of the film over the leather on this core. When the film is all unwound from the spool, the bridge-piece 22 on the unwound film end enga es the tip of a lever 28 connected' by i a lin 29 to a rocker arm 30, which rocker arm has a wedge 31 fast. upon it and opposed to a companion wedge 32 carried by a -flat spring 33. Consequently, the movement of the lever 28 by the bridge-piece 22 will move the rocker arm until the tipv of its wedge snaps over the tip of the opposed wedge 32, whereupon the pressure of thev spring 33 will force the wedge 31 still farther, or until it occupies a position opposite to thatshown in Fig. 1. In so doing, the rocker arm engages a stop 34 on the shaft and slides the latter so as to shift the driving connection to the right-hand spool, while a link 35 also connected to the rocker arm actuates a switch 36 and thereby controls the lighting of the sign.

in thickness and to Wrap lwith irreg,

opaque sheet 37 (of metal or theJ like) hav' lng uniformly spaced perforations through which the rays of light may issue after passing through the perforations in the film.

However, any attempt to confine the sign,v

legends to matter displayed by perforations corresponding in size and spacing to the perforations 1n the sign front would greatly limit the character and attractiveness of the signs, hence I preferably interpose a translucent difiusing screen 38 (of ground glass or the like) between the film 1 and the lamps 39. Suela a screen will readily diffuse the light at widely varying angles, so that even with quite small, perforations in the film, some of the diffused light rays passing through any one perforation will simultaneously be emitted through two consecutive apertures in the sign front, as shown in Fig. 4. Consequently, by using a diffusing medium in conjunction with the film and by suitably spacing the latter from the perforatedsign front, I am able to obtain a' clearly defined traveling effect with legends marked by film perforations of the size of ordinary pin-holes, and hence am able to present signs including such artistic and novel representations as those shown in Figs. 5 and 6, although employing sign front perforations of'relatively large diameter, as shown in Fig. 4.

The effect thus produced may be further enhanced by mounting glass bulbs 40 in the perforations of the sign front, and if these have projecting teats simulating the tipsv of incandescent lamp Ibulbs, the resulting effect closely simulates that which would be produced by the use of the same number of miniature incandescent lamps, even though both the diameter and the spacing of the perforations in the sign front are many times greater than those of the perforations in the film. In other words, I am able to employ a convenient and easily manufacturedsize and spacing of the translucent portions of the sign front in connection with films having\.perforations much smaller in size and much more closely spaced. Moreover, these perforations need not themselves be uniform in size and spacing, but may be considerably varied in both respects as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, thusenabling me to secure sign effects which could not be produced in a relatively small compass by the appliances heretofore employed. Thus, I am able to produce a traveling sign equally marvelous and pleasing in its effect to that afforded by the use of hundreds of separate lamps and.

complicated switching mechanism, although 'only employing a film of cheap material and one in which the legend may be cheaply and easily punched. However, while I have described bulbs 40 as used nfonnection with the sign front, anda iat s ring 33 as carrying one of the wedges, I o not wish to be limited to these or other particulars of my disclosure, it being obvious that the same A might be modified in many ways without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I 'claim as my' invention:

i 1. In an electric sign, a front having uniformly sized and spaced translucent portions, an opaque film having legends formed thereon by perforations smaller in size and more closely spaced than the said translucent portions of the sign front, and lighting means arrangedfor simultaneously projecting light through one ofthe said perforations and two adjacent translucent portions.

2. In an electric sign, a front having uniformly sized and spaced translucent porbetween the film and the lighting means for projecting lightV simultaneously through one of the sald perforations and'two adjacent translucent portions.

3. In an electric sign, a front having unformly sized and spaced translucent portions, an opaque film having legends formed thereon by perforations smaller in size and more closely spaced than the said translucent portions of thesign front, and a lightrefra'cting medium interposed between the film and said front and spaced from both of the latter. Signed at Chicago January 6th, 1917.

RALPH G. CARPENTER. 

